Getting Better

More tales of life in the southern hemisphere… I have had yet another eventful week. I had to analyze a commercial for my Marketing Communications class and present my findings to the class this week. I chose a fairly disturbing commercial for the Scion xB that had absolutely nothing to do with the commercial. I believe that I did well. I finally received my approvals for the rest of my classes and only have a few more flaming hoops to jump through to receive my financial aid. It has been a royal pain in my backside but I feel relieved knowing that it is all coming together. I will take this opportunity to give a shout out to Rene, my advisor, for helping me through all my problems, thanks Rene! But let me refrain from commenting on the mundane elements of dealing with the bureaucracies of academia, and instead focus on the exciting elements of the Western Australia. Mayonnaise!
Yes mayonnaise. I now understand why J. Maartin Troost wrote in his book The Sex Lives of Cannibals “I don’t know if the mayonnaise tastes this way because it has gone off or because it is Australian." Australia mayonnaise is a supervising experience. Instead of being creamy and mild in taste, it is gooey and sour. This was a surprising sensation for me as I was making sandwiches. My reaction was of “BLAWH!” Not that is actually tastes bad, not as such; it is that when you are trained with expectations it is rather off putting to have them not met. If the product was labeled something different this would not be a problem at all. Another interesting event that occurred at the same time was finally seeing what canned Salmon looks like. My mom use to make me salmon sandwiches all the time when we were poor in Kansas City. I thought to myself whilst shopping that since I am a poor student here why not emulate some of my dietary habits of my childhood. I was a little shocked to see that can salmon is not at all diced like tuna but just a soled chunk of salmon (bones and skin intact) stuck in a can. It was still tasty but I did not need the visuals.
Now on to didgeridoos; several days ago Georg and I returned to the Didge shop. We both purchased some really nifty looking painted didges (painted by a local artist). We spent the rest of the night knocking on our fellow village dwellers doors and serenading them with our musical prowess. While this never got old for us, it got old for our some of our roommates rather quickly.
Last night one of the villagers (Kuzi) threw a black and white party at the Dusk Club. Black and white was not referring to race but to dress attire. The party was pleasant and was your standard “we are all here to party with the excuse of a birthday” deal. But the real fun came this morning when I went to my first footy match. Footy (also known as Aussie Rules Football) is an interesting combination of rugby and American Football, played without any padding. I went with Georg and George at noon today. The sports play is fast and very violent. I was noticing players getting clotheslined as they walked off the field. And the football is kicked into the audience quite frequently. The team we were rooting for lost pathetically but the game was still entertaining.
And that is my short update for all of you as to my week.
Yours truly,
Ryan